Review: If This Gets out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich

If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich

Published by Wednesday Books on December 2021
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

4.5 Stars

Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?

This book was so much fun!

Two young men who are in the same boy band fall for each other and the world doesn’t suspect a thing – or do they?

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this but I work in the music industry. Sometimes when I read a book that uses that background as a setting, if they don’t do it correctly, I get really mad because I know what it’s really like and it really takes me out of the story. I am so happy to say that it didn’t happen here. I can totally see how all fo this happened and why it would happen and so the flow of natural events really progressed to me as easily as if they spoke to someone who was in our world.

I love Reuben and Zach. Reuben is more comfortable in his sexuality, more than Zach who is still trying to figure things out. And Zach has a much better family life than Reuben, who is constantly being beaten down and verbally abused form his mother, all in the name of love of course. This leads two very different main characters who were able to find their strength and support in each other.

I really enjoyed the supporting characters too. Angel especially and his hard time dealing with fame and substance abuse was heartbreaking. And the parents and how they interacted with the guys added a lot of tension, heightening the urgency of Reuben’s unhappiness and Zach’s indecisiveness. I loved both of these characters and their journey.

This is so. Good. Guys. And I hope you will give it a chance. It has everything – music, best friends, romance, dancing, world tours, screaming fans and above all, love. Not just romantic love but family love with people who have got your back no matter what.